Experimental Design and Simulation of Radioisotope Thermophotovoltaic Generator by Heating of He⁺ Ion Beam

Radioisotope thermophotovoltaic (RTPV) generator has wide application prospects in sea, land, air, medical, electronics, and other fields. In order to better investigate the influence of alpha rays on emitters, thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells, and other components, it is vital to find out a suitable way which can rapidly evaluate and select each of the components in TPV cells by the combination of heating and irradiation of alpha beam. In this work, a TPV cells test system, in which the tungsten emitter has been heated by the He
⁺
ion beam experiment, has been investigated systematically. It is found that the Gaussian distribution of temperature in tungsten emitter is obtained along the radial direction under uniform distribution of He
⁺
ion beam. The distance between emitter and TPV cells has a great effect on the radiant heat flux and temperature. The simulation results show that the TPV cells have the highest output power (~1.8 W) when the optimal distance between emitter and TPV cells is 80 mm. Moreover, as one of the prospective candidate emitters, the thermal stress of silicon carbide (SiC) emitter has also been evaluated under 400-W beam. It is feasible for He
⁺
ion beam to rapidly evaluate and select each of components in TPV cell experiment. The work will accumulate important experience for the TPV cells test of higher electric output power and the design of RTPV generator.